African American Empowerment Blog (AAEB)

The entire senior class at Chicago's only public all-male, all-African-American high school has been accepted to four-year colleges. At last count, the 107 seniors had earned spots at 72 schools across the nation.

Mayor Richard Daley and Chicago Public Schools chief Ron Huberman surprised students at an all-school assembly at Urban Prep Academy for Young Men in Englewood this morning to congratulate them. It's the first graduating class at Urban Prep since it opened its doors in 2006.

Huberman applauded the seniors for making CPS shine.

"All of you in the senior class have shown that what matters is perseverance, what matters is focus, what matters is having a dream and following that dream," Huberman said.

The school enforces a strict uniform of black blazers, khaki pants and red ties -- with one exception. After a student receives the news he was accepted into college, he swaps his red tie for a red and gold one at an assembly.

The last 13 students received their college ties today, to thunderous applause.

Ask Rayvaughn Hines what college he was accepted to and he'll answer with a question.

"Do you want me to name them all?"

For the 18-year-old from Back of the Yards, college was merely a concept--never a goal--growing up. Even within the last three years, he questioned if school, let alone college, was for him. Now, the senior is headed to the prestigious Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga. next fall.

Hines remembers the moment he put on his red and gold tie.

"I wanted to take my time because I was just so proud of myself," he said. "I wanted everyone to see me put it on."

The achievement might not merit a mayoral visit at one of the city's elite, selective enrollment high schools. But Urban Prep, a charter school that enrolls using a lottery in one of the city's more troubled neighborhoods, faced difficult odds. Only 4 percent of this year's senior class read at grade level as freshmen, according to Tim King, the school's CEO.

"I never had a doubt that we would achieve this goal," King said. "Every single person we hired knew from the day one that this is what we do: We get our kids into college."

College is omnipresent at the school. Before the students begin their freshman year, they take a field trip to Northwestern University. Every student is assigned a college counselor the day he steps foot in the school.

The school offers an extended day--170,000 more minutes over four years compared to its counterparts across the city--and more than double the number of English credits usually needed to graduate.

Even the school's voicemail has a student declaring "I am college bound" before it asks callers to dial an extension.

Normally, it takes senior Jerry Hinds two buses and 45 minutes to get home from school. On Dec. 11, the day University of Illinois at Champaign- Urbana was to post his admission decisions online at 5 p.m., he asked a friend to drive him home.

He went into his bedroom, told his well-wishing mother this was something he had to do alone, closed the door and logged in.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" he remembers screaming. His mother, who didn't dare stray far, burst in and began crying.

That night he made more than 30 phone calls, at times shouting "I got in" on his cell phone and home phone at the same time.

"We're breaking barriers," he said. "And that feels great."

Source: Chicago Tribune

One can witness the history of black economic empowerment through the story of Roy Clay Sr.   As we observe the 2010 theme of Black History Month, it is important to relate that history to current challenges.

As he describes in the new documentary, Freedom Riders of the Cutting Edge, Clay and other pioneers faced no less daunting challenges to their careers than demonstrators facing police dogs.

Thanks to their perseverence, more than 600,000 African-Americans work in information technology, according to Silicon Ceiling 9: Equal Opportunity and High Technology.

The road to becoming a member of the Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame started in an all-black community called Kinloch, outside of St. Louis.  He was able to learn about work, sweeping in a black-owned billiards parlor.

Fate might have made him one of the first black baseball players in the major leagues, but instead he chose to get a degree in mathematics from St. Louis University.

His resume got him an interview with an aircraft maker.   The documentary begins with Clay’s reminiscence of the reaction when he showed up.  ”I’m sorry, Mr. Clay, we have no jobs for Negroes.”

Five years later, in 1956, the company hired him to program its first computer.

Within ten years, he was manager of computer research and development for Hewlett Packard.
The interviews with Clay and the other pioneers featured in Freedom Riders demonstrate the importance of thorough preparation, a quest for excellence and dogged determination to overcome barriers crafted through intolerance.

He could scarcely have seen five decades later, to a day when African-Americans routinely fill top executive roles in the most demanding cutting edge industries, and even the White House, but he took the faith of his predecessors forward.

Still today, as founder of Rod-L Electronics, Clay continues to open doors for more African-Americans as employees and entrepreneurs.

While observing Black History Month, take a broader view of the civil rights movement by recognizing the many stalwarts who opened doors to high-paying careers and growth opportunities in practically every profession.

Source: http://50mostimportantaatechnology.wordpress.com/

 

Deadline: March 1st, 2010

The McGraw-Hill Companies sponsored Black History Month Essay Contest is open to all undergraduate students who are a member of HBCUConnect.com, and are interested in potential internship opportunities with McGraw-Hill. The winner will be notified by April 1st, 2010 and will receive a $1,000 scholarship for use toward tuition or college related expenses. 

Internships at McGraw-Hill
The McGraw-Hill Companies Internship Program is committed to providing students the opportunity to gain valuable work experience while learning about the exciting work offered by The McGraw-Hill Companies. A variety of internships are available at our businesses including McGraw-Hill Education, Standard & Poor's, J.D. Power and Associates, Broadcasting, as well as our other leading brands. Through our internship program, interns will have the ability to gain valuable industry knowledge through their assignments and further their career development. To view our internship opportunities visit our intern portal.


link:http://hbcuconnect.com/scholarships/mcgrawhill.shtml